Road Stop
by NintendoGal55
Summary: While on a journey of finding herself, Helga makes a little stop in a small country town, getting to know an older but empathetic waitress, to further help coming to terms with what she wants in her future.


**This little thing is definitely NOT foreshadowing in some aspects for a future story. I swear it isn't.**

**And it also isn't a scene similar to one of my other fics.**

**Tyrell Corp though is a reference to the movie **_**Blade Runner**_**.**

**So enjoy. :) I know nothing. Except the nameless waitress. :D Well, she DOES have a name, and she might be familiar to a couple of you, but other than that, nope. X3**

**XXXXX**

"Just give me a coffee and a raspberry muffin. Make it snappy."

The brown-haired waitress in her late twenties standing behind the counter smiled in understanding before she went to fill a cup of coffee, and then took a muffin from a tray under a glass lid. She placed both items on a saucer each and placed them before the young blonde woman sitting at the counter.

"Here you go." The waitress said.

"Thanks toots." Helga Pataki murmured, taking the coffee and sipping it. "Typical small town diner, isn't it?"

The waitress nodded. "You can say that. But it's really charming. To me, at least."

"Oh, I know your type. The country-loving girl who finds small towns actually charming." Helga said dryly, and looking into the waitresses' equally stunning blue eyes.

"I take it you don't?" The waitress questioned.

"Nah. Too small, too claustrophobic."

Now the waitress looked offended, and Helga realized her mistake.

"Sorry... I'm just on edge today, I didn't mean to sound like a bigot." Helga said, shaking her head. "What I mean to say is, I'm a city girl, and that's where I want to be. I'm a rising urbanist."

"I see." The waitress nodded. "Well I can understand that. You know, my father once said there were three types of people. Those who loved the city, those who loved the in-between, which are the suburbs, and then those who loved the countryside."

"That about sums it up."

"Did you come from Hillwood City, near Seattle?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

The waitress shrugged. "This town, Floral Side, is often where people on their way to Seattle will pass. And it's only three hours outside of Hillwood anyway, between three road stops along the way. You look as if you'd been driving most if not the whole way non-stop."

"Yeah, I just kept going and going, I wanted to stop but I only did at the last stop, the one with Pizza Hut."

"Why? I mean, I don't mean to pry, of course."

"Nah, I don't care." Helga waved it off. "I'm trying to find myself."

"Find yourself? Well, I see where you're going with this. What provoked you to do that?"

"Well I obviously finished my first semester at college, and before all that I'd hit rough times with my ex boyfriend, we kind of broke up a few years ago."

"...I understand what you're saying." The waitress murmured.

"_No_, you don't. You could never understand."

"What makes you think that?"

"You could never know what it means to be in love with someone since you first met them, pine for them all your life, and then have your wish granted, but then you throw it away because you're scared. You're scared because you trust him and yet you don't. You know he can make you happy and destroy you all at once! You're scared of your feelings! You want him so much but you know you can't have him because you feel he could never make it last like you want it to, that he'll have no problem breaking up with you! Moving on!" The blonde girl half-yelled, and then slumped. "...Sorry, I didn't mean to blow up like that. Sometimes I get a bit on edge."

"I deal with people like you all the time." The waitress said, now wiping the counter with a cloth. "And, you underestimated just how much I know. I take it your pride matters more than admitting a mistake, doesn't it?"

"Being a Pataki can suck." Helga sighed. "Sometimes my pride gets the better of me. I try not to, and I've grown out of it more, but it still plagues me at times."

The waitress nodded. "I see what you're saying. I'm admittedly not a pride person, but I've seen it a lot."

Helga gave a nod too. "Yeah, I guess so. But anyway, my ex-boyfriend NOW is with _Little Miss Perfect. _He'd chased her in the fourth grade, gave up, and now years later, he wants her. They've been together for six months. I couldn't take it anymore, so I just packed my bags, took all the money I could, and am now going on a road trip around the west coast. Where I'll go, where I'll end up, and when I'll be back, I don't know. ...Well, obviously before next semester, doi. I just need to be by myself, to travel around, to see what I want to do and see what happens."

"I see... So are they happy together?"

"Are you kidding me?" Helga sighed. "He's over the damn moon. But I don't know about Lila."

The waitress looked puzzled. "You mean she's not so happy?"

"It's as if she's not really _there_. It's like she's not on the same page as him, and to be honest, now that I think about it from the perspective of a young adult instead of a kid, they're just not compatible."

"Why is that?"

"Lila Sawyer, his girlfriend, is a pure freaking...perfect girl. She sees the world through rose-coloured glasses. She hasn't changed a bit. She's very bland and a one-dimensional person because of it, you know. For any situation, she hits it on the same note. But Arnold..." She spoke his name softly and with a small smile on her face. "He's a more complex person, and he displays a range of emotions. And above all, he's sweet, patient, kind, gentle, sincere, helpful, charming, and he's very optimistic and never gives up. As optimistic as he is, he knows the world isn't perfect. But Lila, no way, everything has to be 'ever so' perfect."

The waitress made a face. "I've never gotten along with girls like that. I'm generally in a good mood a lot and I'm a nice person, but to constantly hold that up and just see the world through rose-coloured glasses? I don't know."

"You and me both sister." Helga finished her coffee and then ate some of her muffin. "So I'm outta there for a while. Maybe eventually he'll realize just how much _Lila_ isn't the girl for him. ...But with my luck, I'll bet they'll be engaged by the time I get back."

"After six months, will be eight or nine at the most when you get back, college students... I don't think so. Unless it's an impulsive decision made hastily, there's no way they could be ready for that." The waitress said. "To me, it has to be at least more than a year or so. If that makes any sense."

"Nah, you're right." The young woman nodded. "I can agree to that. If they're engaged when I get back, then I guess it's safe to say it won't last."

"Not like that I don't think. And you did say they're not compatible. Then, if you put it that way, wouldn't they get bored with each other?"

"You bet!" Helga slapped her palm on the counter, making it shake a bit. "They come from the same kind of economic background, have common interests and know what it means to have lost parents, or had rather, but I digress. But they're too alike, and too different all at once."

"Oh, I understand now." The waitress nodded. "Being too different, or too alike never works. And especially with both of them combined."

"Exactly! But no, oh no, she's waaaaaaay too perfect for him apparently! He's so blind that he doesn't see reality! I want to just smack him upside the head, which I would never do, I love him too much, and just tell him to wake up and smell the coffee-more please-, and let him know what's really going to happen."

"But I suppose you just can't bring yourself to do it." The waitress poured her another cup of coffee.

"No, I can't." Helga sighed. "He's...he's happy. Even if this relationship just isn't right for him, I just can't do it. Is he _really_ going to listen to his ex-girlfriend, and the one girl who tormented him as a child?"

"I can't speak for Arnold, so I don't know." The waitress admitted.

"Exactly. Again." Helga sipped her coffee again.

"Well, just because they _are_ together now, doesn't exactly mean it's set it stone. They could break up."

"Maybe so, but what if they do last somehow? What if he's too blind by love to realize just how badly it could end?"

"Well, I suppose that's up to him to figure out." The waitress murmured.

"I guess you're right. I'm trying to move along, but I want him, I want him so much. But even if he did come to me now, I couldn't take it, I have to go on this trip and think about everything. I have to let myself accept the consequences of whatever may happen."

"I'm sure you'll achieve that. But, just remember to let nature take its course. You two were together once before, right? Didn't you have a good courtship?"

Helga managed a little smile. "We did. Sure, we argued and fought, like any other couple would, and we were kids, but we were together for a few years. And side from our stormy moments, well, we had a great relationship. He was a wonderful boyfriend, just as I knew he would be. And plus I learned more and more to be myself around him, and know that I don't have to be scared to be myself with him. See I kind of put up hostile walls to keep people away from me and bullied them as a result, especially Arnold."

The waitress looked up again as she handed some dirty plates to another waitress who came in from the kitchen. "I see, a game of 'Get them before they get me'?"

"Pretty much." Helga nodded. "Got it from my dad. I've mellowed out over the years. I've learned that I can still be a good person like Arnold tells me I am, but still be strong and not take lip from anyone."

"That's very true. Being nice doesn't automatically mean being a throw pillow or making you weak."

"That's what I thought it did. But now it's bullshit. Sure I have my moments, but I'm not running around yelling and waving my fists. I'm a bigger person than that anyway."

The waitress gave a smile. "I see. Well then..."

"Helga."

"Right, Helga. Well, like I said, just let nature take its course and see what happens, and whatever comes up, take the action necessary."

"I'll do that then." Helga glanced at her nametag and spoke out the waitresses' name. "It's cute, I like it."

"Thank you, I like it too."

"So, what about you? You said you understand what I've been through just as well, don't you? You have a main squeeze?"

The waitress looked down at the counter. "My husband...he died a few years ago."

"...Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's all right...we all face these things." The waitress waved it off. "I've loved him since I met him when I was six years old. We dated as teenagers, and then we had to break up when he moved away. And then I met him again when I was seventeen and we were together ever since."

"What was his name?"

"Antonio. Antonio Mariano."

"Sounds Italian."

The waitress nodded. "Yeah, he was. He was of the Italian mafia branch in Brooklyn. His father was Don Mariano. You know, it was all like something out of _The Sopranos_ or even _The Godfather_...I guess without all the drama. At least not quite first hand."

"I see, I see. So did being a mafioso's wife have its perks?" Helga finished her coffee, and requested some more.

"You can say that." Said the waitress, pouring her more coffee. "He was a great man, even if he was in the mafia and the son of Don Mariano. We had great times together, and he always treated me well. And you just gotta love his New York Italian accent."

Helga gave a laugh. "Hey c'amon, I'm tryin' be all Italian here, you know what I'm sayin'? Fuhgedaboutit."

The waitress laughed. "That's about it. And well, he died in an explosion, when he was trying to apprehend corporate jackasses he was sent out to assassinate, the CEO's of Tyrell Corp. These people kidnapped children and tortured them... He managed to get the children to escape, but the jackasses blew the building up...and he died in it. Sure they all got arrested and the children were saved, but my husband didn't make it."

"Man... I'm sorry."

"That's all right. It's been a few years...and sure, I'll never love someone else like I loved him...but I'm working to move on. I know that's what he would have wanted for me."

Helga looked at her, and smiled. "I wish I had your strength. I can barely manage to move on even though he's _alive_."

"It's not always easy Helga, even I know that." She reached over and patted her hand. "You'll be fine, I know you will. I can already tell you're a strong, determined girl who could do anything."

"That's what Arnold always said." Helga said, and placed a couple of dollar bills on the counter before she stood up. "Keep the change, consider it your tip."

"Oh, thank you." The waitress smiled. "Where are you headed now?"

"Well...Oregon's the next state. Guess I'll end up there soon enough." Helga stretched her arms. "So...you know, thanks for keeping me company."

"No problem, not a lot of people in here at this hour of the night." The waitress said. "So, will I ever see you again?"

"Hey, who knows. You did say this place was on the way to Hillwood, so maybe I'll pass by on my way back." Helga gave a shrug. "...You're okay-"

A truck drove by.

"Well, good luck Helga." The waitress cleared her plates away. "I hope you succeed in whatever you choose to do, with or without him. And stay in a hotel, will you? It's late."

Helga smiled. "Thanks. You too. I'll see you around."

The waitress waved as Helga left and walked into the parking lot, getting into her car, starting it up, and then driving off into the night. She went back to cleaning the counters, when the little bell rang as the door opened, signaling the presence of someone entering. She looked up, coming to see a football-headed young man enter. He looked at her with kind, green eyes and smiled.

"Hi, how are you?"

Smiling, the waitress went over to him as he sat the counter. "I'm fine, thank you. What can I get for you?"

"Just coffee please."

Nodding, the waitress got him a mug and poured him coffee, and gave a knowing, warm smile as she looked out the window for a moment.


End file.
